"Well! I feel better!" Leanne boomed, her face still beaming with the throes of passion from having canoodled with Hank. Her burgundy hair glowed gold as she passed beneath the light in the kitchen on her way to where he sat, waiting for her at the dining table. "You clean up real nice," she said. "And your clothes will soon be dry."

"You look more gorgeous than ever." he said as they ate cookies together. He pressed on before she could think of anything to say. "But I don't think you're supposed to be here."

"Oh. How so?"

"You're dressed for work yet here you are, and you're not getting anything done while hanging out with me."

Leanne remained silent, aimlessly straightening out the mess they'd made while roughhousing on the table. "I think you're waiting for me to do more sexy stuff with you," he said.

"Ho ho! Wrong-o, Hottie!"

"You took my clothes to keep me naked."

"I took your clothes to keep you from stinking."

Hank stuffed a cookie in his mouth and then sipped his coffee. "I know," he said, revealing his feint. "You're actually waiting for Rio."

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O-Reo-Do Cookies and Coffee [https://i.imgur.com/2Tny7Xs.jpg]

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Leanne realized she'd been played. "Mm-hmm," she confessed.

"She's scared, you know. Of you leaving her."

Leanne waved off Hank's comment as she pretended to do some work. "Ah, you mean this morning? It was just a game. We play around a lot. She likes it when I mother her."

"I know. But I also know what she's been through, at least during this past week."

"Hmm. Yes, I see. She went a little overboard, and I played along."

Hank nodded. "She wasn't playing."

"There's something wrong. Isn't there?"

Hank pursed his lips to make sure he didn't give up Rio's secrets. "We both know she acts mean and nasty to cover for when she's afraid," he said.

Leanne laughed. "She gets nasty with you!"

"Okay. But you know what I mean."

"I do." Leanne thought for a moment. "She is really scared, isn't she?"

"Shitless," Hank emphasized.

In a soft voice, Leanne asked, "Do you know what it is?"

"I do."

They both sat in silence for a while, staring at nothing together. "And you're not gonna say," she guessed. "Are you?"

"No, Leanne. I'm not."

She fiddled with her phone, spinning it as it lay on the table. "Shoot. She won't tell me either."

"I can't answer that."

"No. But I can. There's no way she'd confide in someone else her deepest, darkest secrets and not first tell me."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Well, it's not like she had to tell me. I kind of already knew."

To that, Leanne sighed. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, sending her curly hair in motion. "We're growing apart, she and I."

"No. That's not it at all."

"Yes it is. Don't you see? First Milton and then you." Leanne sighed more heavily. "And now a goddamn dog. What am I? Fourth place?"

Hank reached out to touch her hand but she wouldn't allow it, pretending instead to drink her coffee. "Just don't go," he said, dominating the conversation. "You're sitting here, you're dressed for work and you're faking like you're doing work, when what you really want is Rio to come home and be with you. She's been waiting for you all week, and I know you've missed her just as much as she's been missing you. So don't leave her like this."

Leanne's face grew mournful. "She needs you," he said, pressing further. "I need you. I can't be you for her. You have to be you for her."

"What am I supposed to do? I'm the only person who can do my stupid job."

"You can't think like that."

"No, it's true!" she blurted out, before composing herself and casting her gaze on the table. "I learned French when I was little, and some German, too. When I got this job, I learned to speak pretty good Japanese in a few months." She laughed, but it was sad. "It's a gift. Or maybe a curse!" She looked at Hank and smiled pretty, her animal nature roaring like a beast. "Now I'm learning Polish. And boy, do Polish men like big girls like me!"

Hank smiled full and genuine. "You are very beautiful. And smart, which is so much sexier."

"You think so? Really?"

"Yeah," Hank said, almost mocking. "Big and smart and sexy. Rawr."

"A lot of guys aren't like that. Like, I'll act stupid and blond for them—even though I'm neither!"

Hank held back a giggle. "I met stupid and blond just the other day, before meeting Aika," he said, talking about Sue Marie. Leanne narrowed her eyes. "And there's no such thing. The woman who played dumb with me is sly as a fox."

Leanne defended her gender. "You think you're smarter than us, don't you?"

"Ho ho, that is where you are wrong! Guys go crazy in the head when it comes to women. Especially pretty women. And if they start acting sexy with us? We become idiots."

Leanne guffawed into her coffee, almost choking on a slurp. "You said it," she said. "I didn't!"

Hank brought home his point. "That's right. I said it, and you know it. A guy can't take the place of a girl when a woman needs a friend. And Rio doesn't have a lot of friends."

Leanne blinked, understanding what Hank had done. "Can't you take a later flight?" he asked. "Why do you have to leave this afternoon?"

"Because it will be morning in Switzerland when I get there."

"So get there in the evening. Leave here like at dawn."

"I'll lose a whole day then."

"What? You mean you're not gonna sleep?" She shook her head. "That's bullshit." He pressed a finger to the table. "Let those pricks who own you know how important you are. Tell them your loved one needs you."

Leanne caught her breath. "It's kinda obvious, isn't it?"

"Rio loves you more than the air she breathes. What, you think she made that fancy bathroom just to use herself?"

"It's been a while, hasn't it? I can't remember the last time we… you know. The last time we bathed together."

Hank rose from his chair and brushed past Leanne, heading to the kitchen to refresh their coffees. "Well, the next time is tonight."

"I'll do it," she said, steeling her resolve while shooing him into the living room after he brought her a fresh mug of coffee. "Be quiet while I call these wads and tell them to piss off."

He sat with his back to her in the center of the sofa, as she talked forcefully into her phone. To keep his attention away from her business, he contemplated the strange turns his life had taken since having had his second PEP test. A goofy looking dog—one that seemed normal now, more or less—led him to the home of a mysterious billionaire. And in a scant few days, Hank went from being a stock boy whose name no one cared to remember, to a man with seven women vying for his attention.

"I must be a Genius at something," he said to himself, to see if he believed it.

After a length of time had past, a knock came at the door. Hank got up to answer it, but Leanne moved with purpose, her phone never leaving her ear. The words she spoke into it didn't skip a beat as she peered through the peephole.

She unlocked the door and flung it wide open. A young woman stood in the hallway, wearing a dark gray iridescent blazer and a matching pair of slacks. She had on sensible black pumps and a smattering of colorful costume jewelry. Tall and strong and Asian, she had just carried up the stairs six bags of mismatched luggage, every one packed full. Upon catching sight of Hank standing behind Leanne, and while still outside the apartment, she dropped the luggage to the floor with a resounding thud.

The sound of a crazy dog barreling through the building gave notice of the fact that Rio was coming home.

"Hello, Hank," Anna said.